Thursday, February 08, 2007

What's In a Name:What's Your Bet?

I'm as entertained by the Scott Wiese story as everyone else: He was the Bears fan who was so convinced that his team would win the Super Bowl that he vowed he would legally change his name to "Peyton Manning" if the Bears lost. Now he's a national sensation. A performance artist couldn't have pulled it off any more effectively.

Here's the question/topic for discussion: I'm not going to ask if there's an athlete you'd change your entire legal name for, but do you have a favorite athlete who you would consider naming your kid after? (For the sake of argument, let's say your partner defers to your decision.) Or, more interestingly, have you done that for real?

This came up briefly during the old Morning Quickie chats when my wife was pregnant, because the top contender for what the kid's name would be was "Noah," after Joakim. (No, not "Joakim" itself. Thought that WOULD be kind of badass. Joakim Shanoff? Um... maybe not.)

I had a co-worker who gave her son the middle name Hamilton, since he was born the weekend that UConn was in the final four back in '99. (I still think El Amin would have been cooler.)

I wouldn't want to name a kid after an athlete who I didn't at least know personally. Imagine if some day we find out Tedy Bruschi's strung out on amphetamines, and you've got your kid named after him. Oh wait, that's a good workaround on the Ted Johnson thing, huh?

As for the Anthony Mason Jr. thing, I tricked a friend of mine by seeing if he could guess Robert Downey Jr.'s father's name. He thought maybe Morton Downey Jr. (ugh)

I always thought the name "Michael Jordan" would work well for a first and middle -- if only to frustrate my wife. Recently, I have switched to calling our future born athletic prodigy Michael Tyson....

"Noah Shanoff"... Dan, speaking as a fellow member of the tribe, I don't think I could concoct a more Jewish-sounding name than "Noah Shanoff" without including some variation on "Weis-", "Gold-" or "-stein"... Kudos on sticking with "Gabe".

As for naming of my own future children and/or pets, I've always wanted to have a badass dog named Takeo, after Takeo Spikes. Mostly because of the meaning of the name ("Little Warrior" in Japanese), but partly because it just sounds cool.

I remember after Peyton left UT that the entire state of Tennessee saw a rise in that name. As for me if he can stay out of trouble and continue to improve on the field then I am naming my kid Adam "Pacman"

Speaking of Anna, she was the centerfold in the first Playboy I ever bought, and I successfully passed the blink test with my dad that it was because there was an interview with Michael Jordan in it. Back when she was just Vickie Smith.

I always liked the sound of Shaquille McManus(yes i am one of those women who keeps their last name) though im not married yet so maybe who knowsPedro McManus?Shawn Kemp McManus?Rebecca McManus?Sheryl McManus?i mean its endless

"Seven." "Seven Costanza... You're serious?" "Yeah. It's a beautiful name for a boy or a girl. Especially a girl... Or a boy." "I don't think so." "What, you don't like the name?" "It's not a name. It's a number." "I know. It's Mickey Mantle's number. So not only is it an all-around beautiful name, it is also a living tribute."

I'm a life long Yankees fan and being 24, I've watched Derek Jeter since his first game in 1995 against Seattle, filling in for Tony Fernandez. Derek Jeter is, without question, my favorite athlete of all-time and that won't change.

I've considered naming my first son Jeter, but I'm still not sure if I'd do it. I can tell you that my dog's name is Jeter....

AMR -Maybe Joey could get a job on one of the baselines. And you could never go wrong with JamesOn. Well played, Zach.The other choice I've had if I have a son is to name him El Duque and then, after I've tied his right arm behind his back and taught him to pitch, somehow smuggle him into Cuba and pay for him to take a retrofitted 50's Packard on a sea cruise, end up in Nicaragua or wherever and land a multimillion contract to pitch for the Yankees.

I have the good fortune of having the name james lamarr douglas which is also the name of james buster douglas. My freshman year of high school all the guys on our baseball team took to calling me buster. I am stuck by family tradition to naming my son James L Douglas since all the men in my family have the first name of james and a middle name beginning with L. I was thinking leroy after leroy selmon or james lswrence after lawrence wright.

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DanShanoff.com is a sports-blog spin-off of my long-time ESPN.com column, "The Daily Quickie." Anchored by an early-morning post of must-know topics, the blog is updated frequently throughout the day with new posts and user comments.